The Sydney Shove recently discussed electricity privatisation. Lee Rhiannon, from the NSW Greens, gave the case against privatisation; Brad Row, a Shove regular, put the case for.
Brad first examined the idea that the Government can run electricity properly. He took us back to the blackouts of 1981, which he blamed on a chronic underinvestment in infrastructure by the then Labor Government, as it sought to find money in "hollow logs" to provide services at lower cost.
But, stung by the experience, the Government then overinvested in electricity infrastructure. No blackouts - but money which could have been better spent elsewhere ended up in wasted capacity, and we were denied services elsewhere.
Brad looked at the increasing demand for power - and saw that the alternatives for finding the necessary money for Government investment would mean the State's economy was disrupted in other ways. He pointed to the problems with the Victorian economy as a warning.
Lee Rhiannon, however, asserted that the increases in demand for power were not a given. Through demand management and making more efficent use of power, we could "get more with less", reducing the need for increased generating capacity.
Lee pointed to the possibilities of replacing our heated-element off peak hot water systems with systems like "reverse cycle" air conditioners which used about a tenth of the power, supplemented by solar hot water systems.
Graphs of energy usage at the National Energy Market Manangement Corporation for NSW show a main peak in usage at 6pm, with another lesser peak around 10am. This 6pm peak determines the total need for generators - off peak hot water systems mean coal fired generators which can't be shut down at night have something to do.
The daytime peak determines the total generator capacity required, but if the generators could be turned off at night, we would use less coal (or gas, or whatever) over a 24 hour day. Certainly, replacing current generators which can't be turned off easily with ones which can be would reduce coal usage - but the daytime peak would still determine the total number of generators. The daytime peak would still have to be dealt with - either through increased capacity or limiting growth in that peak.
Limiting growth in the peak by increasing efficiency would mean we did not need additional electricity generator capacity. The question is how practical it would be, and how far we could take it.
Lee also criticised the ability of private firms to operate in the public interest. Brad noted the blackouts of 1981. Still, audience members sympathised with Lee's observation the corporations would want consumers to consume more power, while Government would want some appropriate or sustainable level of power use in the community. For sure, Government by itself will not necessarily run things better than corporations. We need effective scrutiny, so the decisions can in fact be better than the market ones, and can avoid the blackouts of 1981.
But at one point the two sides almost agreed. The Labor Government did not go into the election saying that they would privatise power - they focused on the jobs lost if the Liberals won. While Brad emphasised the value of privatisation, he wasn't about to endorse State Labor's approach.
In this light, some Green statements are inconsistent. Privatisation is "unsafe at any speed" - but if the concern is over the openess of Labor's approach, if privatisation were done at the speed at which a mandate could be obtained from the people, that would be a "safe" speed.
The discussion covered a lot more ground than this, and I can only cover so much; its difficult to do justice to both sides. Brad's position is listed elsewhere in this website, and the Green's position is on their website (www.johnkaye.org.au/no-sell-off); I encourage you to check out the arguments yourself.